Motherboard prices shoot up

Motherboard prices are to go up for the second time this year, with manufacturers citing supply shortages due to the Japanese Earthquake.

According to Digitimes, prices are likely to go up again in April as the earthquake damaged the facilities of several upstream component makers. With the Japanese browning out the power in the situation is expected to get worse. It claims that the upstream supply chain is expected to suffer from a serious shortage, causing the downstream IT industry to face rising component prices and affecting their prices in retail channels.

Several raw materials and components are already seeing price fluctuations and prices should see a more obvious increase starting in April. Motherboard prices are also likely to rise in May. Price rises of three to eight per cent are expected.

However motherboard prices were already rising due to shortages of labor in China and rising raw material prices. Asustek and Gigabyte had pushed their motherboard prices by about five to 10 per cent. Consumers didn't notice because the prices of some components fell during the same period which meant that the unit cost of PCs stayed the same. The second wave of price rises will almost certainly be felt.